So I made this little blog to write about coding and software development in general. I actually have a few blog posts I’ve been putting together that I’ll have out soon. One on using SqlBuilder with Dapper to dynamically create your SQL, some on Xamarin as I’m attending their Dev Days tomorrow in Kansas City, and even one on consuming IBM MQ Series with a service.

However, since I got back from BlizzCon this past week which produced an incredible high for me, and then the election on Tuesday that produced an incredible low for me – it’s been difficult for me to be motivated to do too much outside of work just because exhaustion has set in.

And when that happens, I start to think about things – such as the state of the world we live in right now. I got to meet so many great people at BlizzCon this last week – people that read my articles or listen to my podcast. People that love what we’ve put together over at BlizzPro.com and just people who love the games and community in general. Being able to connect on that level and have something in common is very important for us as people. This is something social media has tried to solve in the past, but more recently it’s become so much noise that it’s really become a platform where you can choose who you don’t want to listen to, you can cut yourself off in your own echo chamber, or you can spend the time arguing over every little thing without listening to what the other person is even trying to say.

And because of that, I feel like even though the world is way more connected right now than it has ever been in existence, that it’s dividing us even more and we don’t connect on a human level as much as we used to.

So I’ve put some time in thinking how I can help fix that and had a bit of a silly idea.

As you may know if you’ve read my about page, I work at Hallmark Cards as a software developer. I really love where I work because it’s the first place I’ve worked where the business not only cares very deeply about it’s employees, but it’s whole existence of a business is built around the idea of creating those little connections with one another. One of the simplest ways you can do that is by telling someone you are thinking of them or that you care about them – and it’s as simple as sending a little greeting card with a note in it to let them know. It’s an art that has been very much replaced in the internet age by an email or a Facebook message to someone.

So, with that said – to my friends on social media – on Facebook or twitter, to friends and family who know me in person that may be reading this, to readers of my website or listeners of my podcast – I have something to ask of you. Simply send me your address, either email me jr@jrcook.net, DM me on Twitter, Facebook, wherever. Just send me your address.

This holiday season I plan on sending out greeting cards to you all. If you’re feeling down about anything, election, life in general, or just need a simple pick me up, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if we’ve never met, never talked before, or you just found this randomly somehow.

If you send me your address you will get a greeting card and a personalized note from me in the mail that I hope will at least lift your spirits for a bit.

PS – I would like to note that even though I work at Hallmark, this has nothing to do with them. It’s my own personal doing and they don’t even know (yet) that I’m even doing this. So it’s no way sponsored by them at all.